Cigarette case



Jan. l, 1935. M. E. BERNHARDT CIGARETTE CASE Filed NOV. 23, 1933INVENTOR. //zx BMA/#Afm r.

ATTORNEYS.

Parenteel Jan. 1, 1935 f f 1,986,246

UNITED AS'I'ATE'S PAT'FICE'riff` *i 1,986,246 T; fr CIGARETTE crisisr .lMax E. Bernhardt, New York, NLY. I l Application November 23, 1933,serial N6, 5.99,?,64v

claims. (o1. 20e- 41)l This invention has general reference tocigatainer structure, while greatlyadding to the efl-y rette cases orcontainers .for analogous articles ciency thereof. 1 .i and has to dowith cases or containers of the type With the above enumerated and otherobjects in which the articles contained therein are urged and,advantages in View, reference is now hadto.

5 by a spring pressed follower to a predetermined the specification anddrawing in' which there. Y5 position and in` which the case or containeris has been illustrated, .by Way ofexample, one em-v made up of apair-of mating sections which are bodiment of the invention, while'theclaims cover associated for relative movement to an open revariationsand modifications thereof which fall lation for filling the same or.emplacing the ar- Wthintheir range andfscope. t* o ticles therein. n Inthedravving,l y f The invention broadly comprehends means for Fig. 1isla frontview zof the body section' of the effectingthe retraction ofthe follower upon relcase with the cover section removed.' ativeVmovement ofthe casing sections Vto their Fig. 2 is an inner faceYviewofthecover sec-V open relation. A tion. l, "j

1f The invention further'resides inthe provision Fig. 3 is an nlargedvertical sectional view 15. of means on the follower and .on one of thecasing through the case-taken approximately on thelline sectionsrespectively, which means are so con.- 3.-3 of Fig. 1 and.illustrating-fthe followerk enstructed and arranged as to automaticallyengage gaged and partially retracted by the cover. rsec`l and effectthey retraction vof the follower upon tion.' n. f f j, 20. relativemovement .of the casing sections to open 4 is a Vsimilarviewillustratingthe follower 20 relation,v thereby disposing. the .follower in an infully retractedjposition,with vthe detentlmeans out-of-the-way positionand facilitatingtheemengaged .for temporarily lholding the OHWQT inplacement of the cigarettes or otherwcont'ents retracted pos'itir'nn.-`within the case. f I l In thepresent disclosure,` the invention includesThe invention also has relation to cigarette cigarette casewhchCpmpri'sggjg'bcdy Section 25 cases or containers of the charactersetforth designated generally. bylthereferencecharacter whichV include`means for dispensing the articles and a @over se'CtinQdes'g'nai-,sdgener-any by OI CigaTettBS, together With a Spring urged folthereferencecharacter B, which sections areslidlower foradvancing theA aitiCieSV 0rCigarettes to ably-associatedfor relative movement from a 3o aPosition'to bedisper'lsedand in which .the Case closed to anopenedrelation Ifor filling 'thes'ame 30 includes sections which areassociated forrelative The b0dyseC1;1 ,A includes a, rear Wll '5,L sidemovementto oper'. relation SO'aS t0 Permit Ofthe walls -6 and 7,4andfupper and .lowerend walls 8 liingytheieof. and lthhlCaSiDgSeCtiOnS, 1119011 and 9 which.arepreferablyQformed integralwitlrelative movement, actuate the dispensing means. the 'rear-Wam 'Theendwaus. 3 and 9 ,have from;

The invention-furthermore, includes 'infeomwall portionsioiandiicirected inwardly towards 35 bination with containers or casesof the character ,each other and spaced frm each other and frjqm Setf0rth,.detentmeans for temporarilrholding the rear wan 5....Tne side wsu6 terminates in the follower in. retraeed position against lthe,acspaced remiion'td the. upper. eed` wan a to denne tion 0f its Springand Which Gieten@ means may be therewith a dispensing opening 12 through.which 40 releasable thlughthemedium 0f the ntelen' the cigarettesaredaptedv to be ejected .andfdis- 4o gaging follower retracting means,upon initial pensed. j Y i. p movement of the casing sections'to closedrela- A log'itudnanyfextending from; Wall Section tion. L s A. i 13extends inwardly fromithefrward edgeof the The-invention furtherembodies interengaging Side Wan '7 andthe free edges, of the front Wallfollower retracting .mealisgpi'vided respectively portions 10, lland 13,and thenforward edgeof 45 on the follower and on one of thecasingsections, theside wall 6, define a filling opening 14 ,in the which`retratns means aredsengaged, after the frontpr the bodysectionhforgaining access to 'emplaemelt 0f the Contentsfby the arresting 0f -theinterior thereof .inv order to introduce the the movement of thefollower through the me` Cigarettes, e l i u dium ofthe contents.; nThegcover' section Blincludes a frontwall 15 50 The invention furtherprovides an improveand preferably integral rearwardly directed side mentv in cigarette cases or similar containers walls 16 and 17, the innersurfaces of which are `which is extremely simple in its construction andspaced apart. appropriate distance so asY to snugly mode of operationand which may be inexpensivet overthe outer surface of the side walls 6and 7 1y producedandpincorporated in the case or conof thebody ysection. .'Ihe-rear edgesof the side 55 walls 16 and 17 are provided withinwardly directed flanges 18 and 19 by virtue of which the cover sectionis longitudinally slidable with reference to the body section, so thatsaid cover section may be moved to opened and closed relation and whenopened, uncovers the filling opening 14 at the front of the bodysection, so that the cigarettes may be introduced therethrough.

In the particular form of the Acase disclosed, a dispensing mechanism isprovided, which includes a resilient ejector* arm 20, anchored at one ofits ends to the front Wall portion 13, as at 21, and

which ejector arm is provided with an ejector ter minal 22 and has a camportion 23 adjacent said` terminal. The cover section is provided on itsinner or rear face with an actuating lug 24 which is designed to engagethe-cam portion 23of lthe ejector arm to effect the retraction of theejector terminal 22 upon closing movement of the'co'ver sectionB andtopermit of the ejector arm to partially eject the endmost cigarettewhen the cover section is movedtowardsopen relation.

The body sectionAmay be of a size to receive andaccommodate any desirednumber o f cigarettes which are transversely disposed in contigul ousparallel relation inA asingle rowfbetween the end wall 8 and a springactuated follower 25, which follower functionspt'o shift the cigarettesinto position to be acted upon by the ejector terminal 22 which .liesbehind the innermost endl of the endmostcigarette for engaging andaxially movingthe 4same'to the partially ejected position illustrated inFig; 1. Y

The follower 25 includes an ,upper wall 26 hav ing marginal4 rearwardlydirectedjside .and end walls 27 and 28...,4 The follower 25 is urgedtowards the upper Aend wall8 by a spring 29, the upper end of the springengaging `the underside of the upper wall 26. and lyingbetweenthe walls27 and` 28, while the lower .endzof saidspring bears against the lowerend .wall 9 'of `the 'body section A.

In order to provide means for effecting the retraction of .the followerupon opening movement of the coversection B, an element 30 is providedon the cover section and. is adapted to automatically engage with `thefollowerto move the same therewithto retractedposition against theaction of. the spring 29'so that, as 'illustrated in Fig. L4, thefolloweris disposedin an y01 J.tol`the. l way position, leaving thefilling opening 14 at the front of the bodysection clear` andunobstructed, for introducing the cigarettes therethrough and emplacingthe same within the body section A.

A s disclosed in the particular lformof the invention selected forthepurpose of illustration, the element 3 0 is in the form cfa knobwhich pro,-4 trudes inwardly or rearwardly from the inner' or rear faceof the,front'wall'lfofjthe cover section, adjacent its upper edge.'ZEreffera'bly,V although not necessarilyith'e follower is provided withanelement 3l Awith whichI the element 30 on the coversection engages andwhichv element, as particularly illustrated, ',is inthe formofjaforwardly protrudihglflng'er out andr bent froin'the forward k side;wall 27 o f the follower.

In practice, the sidewalls 16 and 1'7 of the cover section llit mayfrictionf'allyl engage with the Abody section with suicientforce toretain the cover and follower in retracted position against the actionofthe follower spring 29 but if this frictional engagement is notdesired, detentmeans maybe provided for the purpose'o'f holding -thefollower in fully retracted position.4A As VVillustrated, thedetentmeans includesa spring latch 32 carried by the follower, andakeeper 3 3-carred by the body Vis employed.

section. As specifically shown, the spring latch is in the form of asplit resilient ring which is anchored to the forwardly protrudingfinger 31 and disposed in fiat contact with the forward side wall 27 sothat the portion of the ring above the finger 3l, together with thefinger, denes a knob receiving socket 34 into which the knob 30 snapswhen the cover section B is moved towards the open position. The endsofthe split ring are formed with downwardly divergent terminals 35 whichterminals, due to theA inherent'resiliency of the split ring, arenormally in contact at their juncture with the ring ends, and thusprovide .means for engagement with the keeper 33, which keeper is in theform of an inwardly directed finger vformed in-the notched portion 36 ofthe upper edge` of-the front Wall portion 11 of the body section.

In operation, when the cover section B is moved to open position and theknob 30 snaps into the socket 34, the subsequent opening movement of thecover section retracts the follower to the position illustrated in Fig.4 where the divergent terminals 35 of the spring latch or split ringengage with the keeper 33 and are cammed and spreadapart to engage belowand behind the keeper. v The follower is thus detained temporarily inits out-of-the-way position, while the articles or cigarettes are beingintroduced into the body section of the case. After the case has beenfilled, theinitial closing movement of the cover section B, throughtheengagement of the knob 30 with the upper portion of the split ring whichdefines the socket 34, effects the release ofthe split ring from thekeeper 33 whereby the follower is free to bejmoved upwardly by thefollower spring 29. The continued upward movement of the cover section Bcauses the knob 30 to be disengaged from the socket 34, due to the factthat the follower will beA arrested `by the cigarettes or articles C.VThe cover .thus released may be moved to the fully closed positionillustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, and the follower, urged by thespring, functions to move ,the cigarettes into dispensing positionalignment with the dispensing opening 12.-r i j The front wall portion10 is provided with notches S'Zand 38 which open through and eXv tendfrom the lower edge thereof to afford clearance for the movement oftheactuating lug 24 and knob 30 and finger 31. The front wall portion 1lis notched at 39 tor also afford clearance for the actuating lug 24 whenthe cover is fully retracted. l

From the foregoing it will be observed that the ooversecton in additionto serving as a closure for'the'body section, also functions in theseveral capacities, namely, as an actuating means for the dispensing ofthe cigarettes, vas a means for retracting the follower and as a meansfor releasing holding means for thefollower if such a means What isclaimed is:

l In a cigarette case, including a body section and a cover sectionassociated therewith for relative movement to opened and closedrelation, Vmeans-on the body section for dispensing the cigarettes,`means on the cover section for actuating the dispensing means uponrelative movement of the cover section, a'spring urged follower formoving the cigarettes to dispensing position and means carried by thecover section for retracting `the follower upon relative movement of thecover section to open position.

' 2. The combination with a container for cigarettes or similar articleswhich includes a pair of mating casing sections relatively movable toand from opened and closed relation, a spring urged follower forshifting the articles to a position to be dispensed; of means providedrespectively on the follower and one of the casing sections which meansis so constructed and arranged that upon relative movement of the casingsections to open relation, said means automatically engage and effectthe retraction of the follower, and detent means provided on the othercasing section and on the follower adapted to engage and hold thefollower in retracted position when fully retracted.

3. 'Ihe combination with a container for cigarettes or similar articleswhich includes a. pair of mating casing sections relatively movable toand from opened and closed relation, a spring urged follower forshifting the articles to a position to be dispensed; of means providedrespectively on the follower and one of the casing sections which meansis so constructed and arranged that upon relative movement of the casingsections to open relation, said means automatically engage and effectthe retraction of the follower, detent means provided on the othercasing section and on the follower adapted to engage and hold thefollower in retracted position when fully retracted, and said followerretracting means being also constructed and arranged so as to effect therelease of the detent means upon the initial movement of the casingsections to closed relation.

4. The combination with a container for cigarettes or similar articleswhich includes a pair of mating casing sections relatively movable toand from opened and closed relation, a spring urged follower forshifting the articles to apo- -to effect the release of the detent meansupn` the initial movement of the casing sections to closed relation, andsaid follower retractingv means being further constructed so as to bedisengaged when movement of the follower is arrested by the contentswithin the case.

5. The combination with a container for cigarettes or similar articleswhich includes a pair of mating casing sections relatively slidable toand from opened and closed relation, a spring urged follower forshifting the articles to a position to be dispensed; of means providedrespectively on the follower and one of the casing sections which meansis so constructed and arranged that upon relative sliding movement ofthe casing sections to open relation, said means automatically engageand effect the retraction of the follower, cooperating means provided onthe other casing section and on the follower adapted to engage and holdthe follower in retracted position when fullyretracted, and saidfollower retracting means being also constructed and arranged so as toeffect the release of the cooperating means upon the initial slidingmovement of the casing sections to closed relation.

MAX E. BERNHARDT.

